


Linked Deaths

by Willa Shakespeare (AnonEhouse)



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Happy Ending, M/M, Mental Instability, Post Gauda Prime, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:56:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1356661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/Willa%20Shakespeare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blake finds Avon in the rubble of Scorpio. Unfortunately, Blake really is a bounty hunter. Avon is more than a little tired of fighting fate. Maybe he should just give up, and let Blake collect the bounty on his corpse.</p><p>Blake isn't at all agreeable to that plan, though.</p><p>(note: There is no actual rape/non-con, but it's close enough to be triggery, I think.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Linked Deaths

**Author's Note:**

> Blakefancier and I played this in an RPG long ago. To save covering up Bf's current fandom interests on her dashboard with old B7, I'm going to post this without using the official coauthor format (and yes, I did discuss it with her, and got a thumbs up). I'll change it later, when Bf has added enough new stuff that it will be buried. 
> 
> (Some of these old fics had been/maybe still are posted on the Net, but I've reworked most of them quite a bit. Improved, I hope.)

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

Semi-conscious, Avon retained his memory of the stupidity of shoving Orac into Tarrant's hands and taking over the controls. Tarrant may have thought it was arrogance that made Avon insist on crashing the ship himself. Avon was too busy to consider the matter until afterward. It certainly wasn't nobility, or self-sacrifice. It was cowardice, he finally realized. Without the ship Avon would be going to Blake as a pauper, reliant on charity for his very life. It seemed simpler to die, and let Tarrant live a little longer in his place. He hadn't counted on surviving the crash- yet another in a long line of miscalculations.

"Avon."

Avon recognized the voice with a feeling of mixed relief and regret. "Blake. It would have to be you."

"Yes?" Blake knelt next to Avon. "How badly are you injured?"

Avon moved each arm and leg, wincing. "Nothing major appears to be broken. Mild concussion." He started to get up, then sank back. "Ah....and possibly a rib or three gone as well. Are we in imminent danger here?"

"Aren't we always?" Blake smiled. "Not to worry, I'm in more danger than you are, at the moment. Do you think you can make it to my flyer?"

"Rather than lie here, yes." Avon held up his hand to Blake.

Blake took Avon's hand and helped him to his feet. "Do you have any weapons?"

"Tarrant left me a gun..." Avon glanced at the rubble. "I don't know where it is."

"Ah well, it doesn't matter." Blake put his arms around Avon's shoulders. "We're going to my secondary base. Only a few people know about it, so we'll be safe."

"Good. My people... I teleported them down." Avon glanced at Blake.

"All of your people? Well, once we get to my base, I'll let _my_ people know to watch out for them." Blake guided Avon through the debris and torn up vegetation left in _Scorpio's_ wake.

Avon was suddenly uneasy. He didn't know why, but something was wrong. "Blake, there were... rumours about you."

"There were always rumours about me. And they're almost always false. Which ones have you heard?"

"That you are a bounty hunter. Orac said..."

"And do you really believe I'd do that, Avon?" Blake said quietly, "Do you really think I'd sell you to the Federation?"

Avon's reply was even quieter, "My bounty would tempt a saint, and you were never quite that, despite your reputation." 

Blake continued to lead Avon to the flyer. "And if I said that I was? What would you do then?"

"I'd remind you of the time I saved your life. And that the bounty's the same if collected on a corpse." 

"So you've given up? That doesn't seem like you." Blake led Avon to a large group of bedraggled bushes. He pushed aside branches to reveal a flier, as dirty and disreputable-looking as Blake. "Get inside."

"I've run out of options, Blake." Avon leaned against the flyer. "And you haven't answered my question."

"What question was that? Am I a bounty hunter?" Blake shrugged. "Yes, I am."

Avon straightened his shoulders. "Well, now, a rare moment of honesty. I appreciate it." Without changing his expression or tone, Avon lunged for Blake's weapon.

Blake stepped back and took a swing, aiming for Avon's ribs.

Avon cried out as the blow connected, and collapsed.

 

Avon came around slowly. He had a miserable heachache and a sick feeling at the pit of his stomach unconnected to concussion. He was also naked under a thin blanket, with his hands tied in front of him. Hard to mistake that for concern about an injured ex-comrade. He turned his head slowly, scanning the room until he spotted a monitor. "So much for honour, Blake."

Blake's voice came from a comm. unit somewhere in the room."Oh, there is honour, Avon. When it comes to my fellow rebels. But you're no rebel. You're just a common thief."

"How nice for you, to be able to pass judgement from your lofty height." Avon briefly considered offering Blake a bargain for his freedom, but he had nothing to offer that Blake couldn't get from Orac, which Avon had been stupid enough to mention. It wouldn't take long for Blake's people to find it in the rubble.

Blake laughed. "Oh, Avon. You should relax. You'll be taken care of until I find a buyer. There are quite a few people who have an interest in you. Not just the Federation, but independent research institutes, even a few brothels."

"Brothels?" Avon's eyebrows rose into his hairline. "Don't make me laugh, Blake. It makes my ribs hurt." He sat up suddenly as a thought occurred. He might yet have an escape. "I wonder..." He put his hand to his side and grinned, definitely broken. He started pressing on his ribs, swallowing against the nausea caused by the pain. A lung...yes, that ought to do.

"I wouldn't bother," Blake said, "We have quite a well-equipped medical unit here. Unless you want to spend the next few weeks strapped to a bed. Or drugged so completely you can't move."

Avon showed his teeth, and kept pressing. "I wouldn't believe you if you told me space was cold, Blake. Besides, I might get lucky and reach the heart."  
   
"All right." There was a click and then a hissing noise. "That's sonovapour you smell, Avon."

"Coward." Avon tried to hold his breath and press on his ribs, but the gas made him too groggy. He slumped back onto the bed. He muttered, "I'll get away... somehow..."

"You'll try," Blake said softly. "I'd prefer you alive, Avon. But if dead is the only way to have you, then dead it is." 

 

Avon wasn't quite unconscious, but in a hazy, dreamlike state, when he heard the cell door open, and a few seconds later, saw Blake approach with restraints. His hands were lifted, and tied down to the sides of the bed. He whispered, "No, not my hands...."

"I'll release your hands when I'm sure you won't hurt yourself. I've learned from my people that your crew found their way to my primary base. They're perfectly safe, for now."

Avon wasn't tracking too well. He muttered, "Like Kayn."

"Shh." Blake stroked Avon's hair. "I didn't hurt Kayn's hands. And I won't hurt yours. Look at me. Can you look at me?"

Avon struggled to focus on Blake. He was too groggy for subterfuge. "Why?"

"Why? Why, what?" Blake slid his hands through Avon's hair, then down across his jaw.

"What happened to you?" Avon closed his eyes. "I tried. When you were gone I fought your cause, and you were becoming _this_ ."

"You had been right all along. Money is the only reality. In order to win this war, I need plenty of it." He laid his hand against Avon's chest, teasing the area around his nipple with a fingertip. "Honour, friendship, love; those are all meaningless words."

"I stole wealth. I never bartered men's lives for it." Avon opened his eyes and looked at Blake. "If you can't see the difference, then it really doesn't matter whether you or Servalan rules the Federation.

Blake smiled and slipped a hand underneath the blanket to fondle Avon. "Don't be so naive. I don't plan on ruling anything. I'll be long dead when the Federation is finally brought down."

"Whoever succeeds you will follow your example, for good or ill." Avon was trying desperately to ignore the skin-crawling sensation where Blake touched him. "Tell me, what does Avalon think of you now?"

"Avalon thinks I'm dead." Blake stroked Avon's cock, gently rubbing its head with his fingers.

"I think she's right. Not even Travis would treat a helpless prisoner like this. Raiker would have."

Blake leaned over and brushed his lips against Avon's forehead. "Before I send you to your new masters, I will fuck you. I've dreamt of it for the longest time."

Avon looked at Blake without expression. "Who did it to you, Blake?"

Blake's expression was puzzled. "I'm afraid that I don't understand." He cupped Avon's balls.

"Who broke you? The Federation couldn't do it, but someone did."

"It wasn't any one person. Trust is for fools."

"Is it? Who gave you that scar? Was it an enemy... or a friend?"

Blake smiled. "I don't have friends, Avon. Not anymore."

"At least none with prices on their heads." Avon closed his eyes again.

Blake snorted. "Oh, and you were my friend?"

"Of course not. No more than you were mine." Avon wanted to get this over with. "We always used each other. That's all there was to it."

"Don't worry, Avon. I'll make sure you live a long life." He patted Avon's thigh. "If anyone has a right to kill me, it's you. For all the things I've done to you. For all the things I will do to you."

"If you're in a hurry to die, untie my hands and I'll oblige you."

"Not today, Avon." Blake kissed his mouth. "But soon enough. I promise."

"Changed your mind about selling me?" Avon opened his eyes and looked at Blake. "You can't afford to keep me."

"No, I haven't changed my mind. But you'll escape your masters easily enough. No one knows you the way I do." He stroked Avon's temple and whispered, "It's enough to make me weep."

"You don't know me. You never did. You only knew how to manipulate me. That's not quite the same thing." Avon coughed; something was in his throat. Maybe he'd succeeded. He couldn't feel much past the drug; an unmeant kindness on Blake's part.

"Maybe." Blake sighed. "When we were on the Liberator, I wanted to be your lover." Blake looked at the security camera and his voice snapped into authoritarian mode. "I need the doctor here. No sharp objects. You know the rules."  
   
"For future reference... potential lovers respond better to kind words than orders." Avon coughed again, wetly.

"I won't need the advice, but thank you. Now don't speak. The doctor will be here soon." As if Blake's words had conjured him, the cell door opened and a middle aged man came into the room. He pushed Blake aside and began to run a hand-held diagnostic machine over Avon's torso.

Avon watched the doctor dully, resenting another witness to his humiliation. His tied hands made helpless fists.

The doctor looked at Blake. "We need to get him to the medical unit. Immediately."

"What's wrong?" Blake glared at Avon. "I need him alive."

"He's bleeding internally. I need to get him into surgery." The doctor spoke to Avon, "Do you have any allergies?"

Avon smiled. "Guess."

The doctor sighed and pressed the button on his personal comm unit. "I have a code red in the cells. I need a stretcher. Stat! And fire up the diagnostics machine. I'm going to do a full blood work, test for all known allergies. You're going to live, Avon. I'm sorry if that disturbs you."

"I suppose your professional ethics..." Avon turned his head to cough again, letting something dribble from his mouth so that he could breathe long enough to finish his remark. "...won't permit you to sell a sick animal. Don't let me interfere with your good work."

"He does what's necessary, Avon. We all do," Blake said. The door burst open and several medical staff entered the room on a run. One of the younger staff members drew blood and ran ahead to test for allergies before they transfered Avon to a stretcher.

Avon was becoming light-headed again. He decided that there wasn't anything he could do about the whole situation and he might as well sleep through it.

 

 

   
Avon stirred, and licked his lips. He had a vague feeling that time had been passing, that he'd been hearing Blake's voice. Maybe being touched. Petted. But that was probably, he hoped, hallucination. He felt a tug on straps around his wrists. So. Not entirely hallucination.

"Time to wake, Avon," Blake said.

Avon blinked, and looked straight up at the ceiling. "So. We're both still here. How tedious." He could see medical personnel moving about, but didn't notice any other patients. 

"Yes, we are." Blake stroked Avon's arm. "How are you feeling?"

"Quite well, thank you for enquiring," Avon replied icily. "If you don't mind an audience you may resume where you left off without fear of unduly damaging the merchandise."

"I could always ask them to leave." Blake slid his fingers up Avon's arm, then stroked his face.

"It is a matter of utmost indifference to me." Avon wished the ceiling had rivets, or acoustical tiles with holes to count.

Blake smiled. "I don't think it is." Blake called the doctor over and after a quick conversation, the medical unit cleared of people.

Avon blinked and concentrated on not tensing, not allowing his body any external reaction. The one thing the Federation taught him was that responding to sadists merely increases their pleasure. Of course, the corollary was that not responding tends to get you hurt much worse. When you're in a no-win situation, sometimes salvaging even a scrap of dignity was worth any amount of pain.

Blake laughed softly. "You're very good at that. Slipping on your armour." Blake leaned over and nuzzled Avon's temple before kissing it softly. "I'm not going to hurt you." He kissed his way down Avon's jaw.

Avon stared at the ceiling, thinking furiously. If anything Blake had said was true, the others had survived and they would try to rescue him. If they weren't prisoners themselves, but they would be, wouldn't they? Vila and Tarrant had high bounties. Blake _might_ respect Tarrant as a rebel, but he would certainly think of Vila as nothing more than another despicable, expendable thief. Even if they were free to act, would they realize he's alive? Tarrant wouldn't expect Avon to have survived the crash. It all came down to Avon being on his own, at the nonexistent mercy of a madman.

As Blake licked and nibbled on Avon's neck, he slipped a hand underneath the blankets and Avon's gown, running fingers lightly over his cock.

Orac... now, if Avon could get a message to Orac... it might not help him, but it could certainly be ordered to do something very inconvenient to Blake. Perhaps reveal his whereabouts to the Federation? Or simply blurt his identity to his fellow bounty hunters. Avon's eyes glittered as he visualized Blake being turned on by his fellow scum.

Blake murmured, "So beautiful. I almost forgot... lovely..." He brushed his mouth against Avon's.

Then again, perhaps he need do nothing at all to have revenge on Blake. None of the others knew the security codes he had installed in Orac to prevent it giving away his most valuable secrets. None of the others could give Blake the Pylene 50 counteragent, or the codes to bank accounts containing far more than their combined worth in bounties. Not all of Avon's plans had been dismal failures. Possibly if they studied the rubble of Scorpio, Blake's people might develop a teleport and a star-drive. If they had any scientists worth the name among their recruits, which he strongly doubted. 

Blake sighed. "Your mind seems elsewhere, Avon. What are you thinking of?"

Avon slowly lowered his gaze to look at Blake. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Don't let me interrupt your rape-fantasy. Should I scream and curse you? Or moan and say how overwhelmed I am by your power and masculinity?" 

Blake laughed and squeezed Avon's cock. "Neither scenario seems you, love." Blake grinned. "Are you plotting your escape? Thinking your crew will save you? Unfortunately for you, that's quite impossible."

"Oh, I'm not bothering about my escape." Avon was pleased to have found a water-stained area of the ceiling. With a little imagination, it could be a circuitry pattern. What sort of device would result from it? "I'm trying to decide how to kill you."

"Good. It'll be slow, won't it?"

Avon said softly, "Think years, Blake."

Blake whispered, "I'm glad I waited for you."

"Ah...I suppose that's meant to mean something to me... it can't be a proclamation of undying love." His arms twitched, a muscular spasm caused by remaining still too long. "Perhaps I am the only person you consider capable of sufficient hate to punish you as you deserve?"

"Hate, love, it's all a matter of perspective. Jenna couldn't do it. But you could. You will." Blake pulled the blanket up to Avon's waist, then lifted the hospital gown. He leaned over and took Avon's cock into his mouth, sucking gently.

Avon said softly, "And what if I tell you that I've lost my taste for revenge? I found the man who killed Anna."

Blake made a soft, quizzical sound, but continued to manipulate Avon's cock with his tongue and lips.

Perhaps the circuitry- shape was a new type of blaster; if Avon ever saw Dayna again, he might mention it to her. "I thought it was a Federation interrogator named Shrinker. Before he died, he confessed that I'd been run by one of the Federation's top agents, code-named Bartholomew. I'm not boring you, am I, Blake?"

Blake licked the tip of Avon's cock.

"I am boring you." Avon contemplated the circuitry and saw a flaw. After one shot, the thing would cause feedback and an explosion- probably killing the user. Hmm...potentially useful if you could just convince your enemies to shoot you with your own gun after they'd caught you.

Blake released Avon's cock. "What was it?"

Avon glanced at Blake. "What was what?"

"Your story. Why you no longer have a taste for revenge."

"Ah. That. I found Bartholomew, the one Shrinker said must have taken Anna. I found her in Servalan's cellar. Anna. Anna _was_ Bartholomew. She was the one who turned me in. She was the one who smiled and kissed me and betrayed me. I was slightly faster with my gun. To be fair, Anna had been through a palace revolution that day, no doubt that's tiring. And do you know, Blake, I regret that. Even now, I regret that I was the one to kill her." 

"Regret is a part of life, Avon. If it helps, don't see it as revenge."

"I see it as death, Blake." Avon closed his eyes for a moment. "And I now think perhaps that I shall let someone else have the pleasure of killing you. After all, I don't need the Rebellion baying after me along with the Federation."

"No!" Blake grabbed Avon by the hair. "You have to do it! No one else will. Not the rebellion, not the Federation. You have to!"

"But Blake, it isn't to my benefit." Avon smiled sweetly, glad to have finally found a weakness. "Now that you've given me time to think it over, I realize that. I'm not entirely unreasonable. If you pay me enough to make it worth the inconvenience, I might reconsider."

Blake sighed and sat down. "I didn't want to tell you until you'd completely recovered. Your crew is dead. Your crew and most of my people at the primary base."

Avon laughed. "So, you were lying to me before. Or you're lying to me now. Blake, I don't care what you say. Untie me, give me a means of leaving this planet, and I'll be willing to track you down again, and kill you at some convenient future time." Blake was totally mad.

"It happened while you were unconscious." Blake tilted his head. "Would like to see the bodies? They're here. Frozen until I could sell them."

"You're not listening. I want to be free. I don't care how many hapless rebels you have salted down for winter. Let me go, Blake."

"No. All bids aren't in. What did you do to Sleer that she wants you so badly?"

Avon showed his teeth. "I insulted her gown."

"She's willing to pay a lot of credits for you." Blake straightened Avon's hospital gown. "I'm sorry about Anna."

"Yes, I can see how your heart bled for her." 

"Are you saying that you loved me?" Blake smiled. "I'm flattered."

"You're quite mad, Blake. I do pity you." 

"Yes, I am." Blake laid his hand over Avon's. "But you never answered my question. Did you love me?"

"Would it make any difference to you if I said 'yes'?"

"I don't know. Probably not." Blake laughed softly. "I can rarely tell these days. If it helped, if I could love anyone, it would be you. I thought... I had hoped that you would kill me before all this."

"I want to live, Blake." Avon tugged at the bindings. "If you release me, perhaps I could teach you how to want to live, too."

"I can't." Blake shook his head. "You'd betray me. You'd destroy me, Avon. If you... _when_ you betray me, it will be worse than a mind-wipe."

Avon's eyes narrowed. "I have never broken my pledged word. Never. When I swore to fight the Andromedans for _you_ I fought until the ship was dying. When I promised to take you to Earth after Star One, I spent more than two years searching for you to keep your word. I only stopped trying when I no longer had a ship capable of reaching Earth in one piece. My word is all I have left, Blake. I won't have you, or anyone else, deny it."

"Then you'll die. That's how it works, Avon. Either you betray me or you die. I could keep you safe, away from me, working on some experimental station. They'd keep you safe from harm; you'd be valuable."

"Everybody dies, Blake. Not everyone is free. That's what I want. That's all I've ever wanted. Free me."

"I can't! "Blake squeezed his eyes closed. He sobbed softly. "I don't want you to die."

"I won't live a slave, Blake. Sell me, and you ensure my death. Set me free and I'll swear to stay with you."

Blake opened his eyes and wiped away the tears. "Do you promise to kill me, should I need to be taken care of?"

"Yes. I promise." Avon couldn't hate this broken shadow of a man.

 Blake nodded and fumbled with the straps holding Avon down. "I'm sorry."

"I know." Avon waited until Blake finished untying him and then sat up, slowly, rubbing his arms. "It will be all right, Blake."

"No, it won't. But thank you for saying so."

"Well, it will be better, at least." Avon poured himself a glass of water from the bedside pitcher. "Could you find me some clothes, so we can leave here?"

"Yes, all right." Blake stood and began looking through drawers and cupboards. "I think there are jumpsuits in here someplace."

Avon drank the water, then got to his feet, carefully. There wasn't any pain, but his muscles were sore from disuse. He went to Blake and put a hand on his shoulder.

Blake tensed and gasped. "Ah, here." He found the jumpsuits, and handed one to Avon.

"Thank you." Avon pulled on the jumpsuit and zipped it up. He reached out to touch Blake's hand. "Come now. You look tired."

"Yes." Blake briefly squeezed Avon's hand. "I'll show you to my quarters." 

 

The rebels only glanced at them. Blake's madness must have taught them not to be surprised at anything he chose to do. Once they reached his rooms Blake sat on the bed and stared at Avon, looking helplessly lost.

Avon touched the side of Blake's face lightly. "You're not afraid of me, are you?"

Blake shuddered. "Shouldn't I be?"

"No." Avon continued stroking Blake's face. "I won't hurt you. My word on that." Avon had more than a touch of madness himself. Who was he to blame Blake for breaking?

"Maybe you should hurt me. I..." Blake swallowed hard. "I assaulted you."

Avon smiled. "Perhaps I should assault you back?" His hand lingered at the point of Blake's jaw, thumb rubbing in small circles.

Blake's eyes widened in surprise. "You want me?"

"Yes." Avon leaned in until his mouth was only a breath away from Blake's.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Avon stroked Blake's hair. "It's not pity, if that's what you're thinking. My crew was quite convinced that I was mad this last year. I'm not entirely sure they were wrong. I don't pity you. I want you."

"I'm sorry about your crew. If it's any consolation, we didn't find Vila's body."

Avon paused, then continued stroking. He'd find out later what had happened. "Don't think about anyone else. It's just you and me. Do you still want me?"

"Yes, I never stopped."

Avon moved in the last fractional inch and kissed Blake who sighed and relaxed into the kiss. He started unbuttoning Blake's shirt, while still kissing him. He pressed his body between Blake's legs, and pulled back far enough to say, in a deep, soft voice, "Get undressed, Blake." 

Blake nodded and took a deep breath. He released Avon and moved back to undress.

Avon unzipped his jumpsuit, and moved the bed once he was naked, holding out his arms. 

Blake crawled into bed, and Avon's arms. "I feel like I'm falling."

"Yes." Avon kissed Blake again, holding him tightly. "Don't fight it. Fall with me."

"I'm afraid." Blake nuzzled Avon's mouth.

"I know," Avon said softly. "Everyone is afraid. The secret is to keep moving." Avon pulled Blake on top of himself. "You can outrun fear. I've been doing it my whole life."

"I don't want to hurt anymore." Blake held Avon gently by the hair but kissed him hard.

"I won't hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you. Not even you." Avon put his hands on Blake's arse and urged him to rub against Avon.

"Yes." Blake nuzzled the side of Avon's face and began making quiet, desperate noises as he moved.

Avon dug his fingers into Blake's arse and arched up against him. "Can't... last much longer..." It had been so long. 

Blake nipped Avon's earlobe and thrust faster.

Rubbing frantically against Blake,Avon groaned and pushed up again. "Yes!"

Blake cried out, thrust twice more, and came.

Avon groaned in relief as he stopped fighting his orgasm. His hands released their grip on Blake's arse and his arms fell to his sides.

Blake sighed, kissed Avon, then wiggled down to lick Avon's belly clean. Avon watched Blake for a moment, then closed his eyes. Blake looked up. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." Avon looked at Blake and smiled. "I'm just... tired. You're an excellent cure for insomnia." 

"Oh." Blake settled next to Avon. "I'm sorry." 

"Don't be." Avon rolled onto his side and put his arm around Blake. "There have been many times this last year when I would have given the contents of LIberator's treasure room for a night's sleep."

 Blake wrapped his arms around Avon. "I'll watch over you while you sleep."

Avon rested his head against Blake's shoulder."Thank you."

Blake kissed Avon's temple and stroked his back.

Avon sighed softly, and fell asleep.


End file.
